Allowing him to discreetly monitor the Dark Lord's health and prowess from a safe distance.
This was another reason why he kept Severus close at hand. But thankfully, with the destruction of the diary, Severus' mark was fading once again, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
...
At one point, he was sorely tempted to share the dark mark's true origins, in order to help discourage and fracture the prideful pureblood ranks who would hate the idea of being branded and 'owned' by anyone. But he had eventually dismissed it, since they would almost certainly research it for themselves, if they hadn't already, and could possibly make the connection that their Lord was still alive and try to contact him and/or resurrect him sooner. It was also why he had discouraged the Unspeakables from researching further into it, for fear that the knowledge would spread. Once Voldemort was destroyed for good, they could research the mark all they liked.
Now, with his own plans in motion to remove Lucius, as well as Madam Bones' own ambitious plan, which he was discreetly shaping through his trusted agents, he had to consider what to do with Severus. The man was his most trusted spy, his most valuable agent, and his personal assistant. His advice was invaluable when it came to dealing with the dark arts, but he was Draco's godfather and had a deep loyalty to Lucius' family. He seriously doubted that Severus would openly betray the Malfoys; he was just too loyal to them. So the question was how to twist that loyalty, that sense of duty to Draco, before the answer suddenly popped into his mind.
Lily.
Severus' one weakness, the reason why he had betrayed Tom despite knowing all too well how the dark wizard dealt with such people. Could he play on Severus' oaths to protect Lily's only son and his oath to protect Draco?
"I might be able to spin it," he muttered to his silent office, before remembering that he had an appointment to keep.
...
( Ministry of Magic )
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves before respectfully knocking on Madam Bones' door and waiting for her reply. "Enter," the stern auror barked, as he carefully turned the door handle. "Madam Bones, may I have a moment of your time," Kingsley requested, as his boss looked up from her paperwork, her eyes locking onto him as he stood silently in the doorway.
"Make it quick," she snapped, covering her papers out of habit.
He closed the office door so that they wouldn't be overheard. "I have an idea, one I believe will increase our chances of catching Lord Malfoy," he offered as he stood before her desk at crisp attention, like he was on the parade ground. "We both know that Lord Malfoy is a slippery character and that half the stuff Pettigrew has given us won't stick to him, especially with all the strings he can pull and the bribes he could offer. But what if we caught him red-handed instead? What if we caught him dealing directly with Pettigrew?" he asked his commanding officer.
"I'd say that that would be pretty damning evidence," Madam Bones replied, clearly interested in what he had to say.
He smiled proudly at not being shut down immediately. "What if we fake Mr. Potter's death?" he asked her mischievously, her interest spiking. "Then we follow Peter to the exchange with Lord Malfoy and encourage Peter to get Malfoy to say something incriminating, or some level of confession.
As soon as the gold has exchanged hands for the successful murder, we then arrest him on the spot. Then we would have hard evidence of Lord Malfoy's involvement in both the conspiracy and attempted murder or assassination of the dual heir to an ancient and noble household, dealing and assisting with a wanted criminal, and dealing in the dark arts. That's easily life imprisonment, no matter what strings he pulls," he proclaimed eagerly.
Watching as Madam Bones shifted in her seat, a grin slowly grew on her features. "That might actually work," she muttered back with her own smirk. "We could even invite some reporters along, under the pretence of wanting them there for a big bust. Not even being the Minister's close friend and advisor would save him," she voiced, before her grin quickly turned to a frown.
"We'll have to deal with the Headmaster," she stated uneasily, clearly recognizing that she would need some help pulling all the strings necessary to make this work.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Kingsley voiced sagely to his boss.
Seeing that the statement wasn't as effective as he had hoped, he tried another route. "And if what Peter has said is true, the youngest Weasley was the one responsible for opening the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe he has the diary that Lord Malfoy's agent gave Peter to smuggle in... which is even more damning evidence to hold against him," he mused.
She weighed his suggestion carefully. "I suppose I need to talk to the Headmaster."
...
Ravenclaw Tower – (Sunday Evening)
He silently watched as the winter sun slowly set behind the distant hilltops, as darkness once again claimed the ancient castle. He took in this beautiful sight while patiently waiting for his dear friend Penny to return to her quarters for the evening.
Despite the peaceful sunset he had just watched, he was still rather nervous, his stomach doing little loops and turns like a rollercoaster. For weeks now, his close friend had been avoiding him for whatever reason, but he had finally built up the courage necessary to confront her, to talk to her, and try to mend the broken bridge lying between them.
Predictably, he had gone to his godfather and elder cousin for advice on just what to do, how to make amends, etc. Ultimately, though, they weren't here, standing in the girl's bedroom, waiting for her inevitable return.
Truthfully, he felt so out of his depth right now, just standing there waiting for the older Ravenclaw to return. After all, most kids have had friendships for years, since their preschool days even, and inevitably had some experience with swallowing their pride and saying 'I'm sorry' to help mend fences. But not him; he had never had friends before coming to Hogwarts. They had always been driven away with alacrity by his cousin and his gang of sycophant bullies.
So, for once, despite all his intelligence and cunning and understanding of the harsh realities of the world, he knew he was way out of his depth, with no insight or experience of his own to call upon. In fact, he just had some well-meaning advice from others to help guide his actions and a few books he'd read on psychology.
Maybe he was overreacting, overthinking everything just like he normally did, but Penny was the second friend he ever had and he didn't want to lose that friendship without doing everything in his power to try to save it, even if he had to apologize for something he didn't even realize he'd done.
"I'm going soft," Harry muttered quietly to himself as a small smile appeared on his lips. He gracefully moved away from the bedroom window while pushing a rogue lock of hair back behind his left ear. If this had happened just a year ago, he would have simply dismissed it and not have bothered with her anymore, and cut her off permanently from his favour.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, the older Ravenclaw had somehow managed to crawl her way into his cold heart over the last year and a bit. Catching his own reflection in the dressing table glamour mirror, he saw a soft smile on his lips, an energy in his eyes, that soft but visible sparkle he often saw in other students that were full of life and energy around the school.
Smiling at the sudden realization, "But I'm happier now than I was," he admitted aloud, both to himself and to the empty room.
Now that he thought more about it, it was probably due to all the friends he had made since coming to Hogwarts, coupled with the discovery of having a godfather and family that actually cared about him. True family. He thought about Ted and Andy and their daughter Tonks. All of them had subtly worked together and had, without his even realizing it, pulled him out of the cold, hard protective shell that he had erected to protect himself from his abusive relatives and the harsh world around him.
Rather than dwelling on the past, he pushed the hateful and negative thoughts that always rose up in him when thinking of his relatives to one side, and through sheer force of will chose to instead focus on his friends and newly found family, rather than letting the memories of his childhood sour his current mood. Right now, he was here to talk to Penny and try to fix their damaged friendship. Thoughts of Penny led him to fondly remember their midnight adventure together, followed by waking up the next morning in bed together.
He couldn't help but smile when he recalled Penny's reaction, whilst another more primal part of him wished he had taken the opportunity to kiss her, to taste her for himself that night. It was at that moment that he realized something quite shocking; he had a 'crush' on the beautiful older Ravenclaw who had wormed her way into his heart. He cleared his mind of such primitive thoughts; it certainly wasn't the time for such fantasies and emotions.
Looking back over towards Penny's fine glamour table and matching mirror set, he considered for a moment the idea of enchanting the glass so that he could observe his friend more closely, but he quickly dismissed it.
She was a friend and ally, he told himself; therefore, he would respect her privacy, even if their friendship wasn't on the best of terms at the moment. However, if their friendship suddenly ended tonight, he would feel free to spy on her, but for now he would respect her privacy, he silently vowed.
...
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